Sanity? What Sanity?
by Jagwarakit
Summary: Harry learns his true family history. HP/FFVII crossover but takes place in the HP world. Harry's point of view. Part 1 of the Insanity Trilogy.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own either Harry Potter or Final Fantasy VII and it's spin-offs. A girl can dream though.

**Author's Notes:** I figured I'd write something to let you all know I'm still alive. I'd have posted the next story in my Innocence Series, but, sadly, I've got a writer's block for those stories at the moment. So instead, I give you a Harry Potter/Final Fantasy VII crossover one shot. This will probably be the only one I do, though. I've really gotta thank Uchia ninja for this. Her story, Thunderstruck is what inspired this, specifically the scene where Harry and his allies are reading about Vincent. As for Chaos, I used the form he has in Dirge of Cerberus. Anyways, enjoy.

**Sanity? What Sanity?**

Harry sighed and rubbed his temple as the cart took him to his families secret vault. He couldn't help but wonder why this shit always seemed to happen to him, it certainly couldn't help what little sanity he had left. Oh, his summer had started out normally enough. That had ended the moment he'd gotten a letter from Gringotts asking for his presence for an important meeting dealing with his inheritance. It was in that meeting that he learned that he'd been emancipated last year on his fifteenth birthday in accordance with his parents will. Of course, he hadn't been informed thanks to his manipulative headmaster who wanted him to remain dependent on him and oblivious to his treachery. Yeah, like that was gonna happen. Note the sarcasm.

Harry sighed again and dropped his hand from his temple. His sixth year hadn't even started yet and already he wanted it to be over. Ah well, at least the bit about being descended from an ancient warrior hero who supposedly saved the world twice sounded interesting. Not to mention the warrior's friend who also supposedly saved the world once. Hopefully the vault would have some decent information on that. Anything to keep his mind off Sirius. Harry swallowed thickly and shoved that thought as far away as possible. Thinking about that would do him no good at the moment.

The cart jerked to a halt and Harry climbed out, pausing a moment to let his stomach catch up with the rest of him. Heaving another sigh, he was doing that a lot lately, he went to the vault doors and entered as instructed only to stop and blink. What the hell? The inside of his vault was a cliff overlooking a barren wasteland and a ruined city? Oh well, he'd seen stranger. What was with the sword stuck in the ground, though? And, oh joy, look at that, the vault doors are gone. Nothing but wasteland as far as the eye can see. Harry groaned loudly then, so much for an easy trip. With how his day had been going he should have figured something like this would happen.

"I take it you've had a rather long day," came a soft voice from behind him. The voice was a soft, smooth alto that washed pleasantly over the senses but spoke of many hardships and losses and hard won wisdom. All in all, it was very pleasant to listen to. Harry couldn't help but wonder what the voice's owner would sound like singing.

Spinning back around to face the sword, Harry found himself face to face with a rather short blonde haired, blue eyed male dressed in black and, yes, he did count them right, seven swords that reminded him of puzzle pieces strapped to the small of his back. Heavy looking combat boots, a shoulder guard with a silver wolf's head holding it on, and a matching silver wolf's head earring finished the look.

A pale man with black hair and crimson eyes dressed in black and a tattered blood red cape stood beside him. The man was also wearing gold armor plated boots and a gold gauntlet with claws for fingers on his left arm. A cloth wrap the same color as his cape held his long hair in check. He also had a rather large gun strapped to his right thigh. Harry fully believed that this guy had the monopoly on scary. Now why couldn't he look that cool.

"You could say that," Harry replied tensely, turning his attention back to the blonde. The power he could sense coming from these two was intense. These guys made Voldemort seem like a school yard bully. "Who're you?" he asked causing the blonde to give a small smile. Harry got the impression that this guy usually didn't have much to smile about. A pity that, he had a nice smile.

"I'm your ancestor, Cloud Strife. This," here Cloud motioned to his companion, "is Vincent Valentine, and your other ancestor. We are the founders of your family. Or rather, my son and his daughter are, but they have always claimed us as the founders," he continued with a touch of fondness in his voice as he thought back to what was obviously a fond memory.

"Aren't you supposed to be, you know, dead?" Harry asked with a raised brow.

Cloud smiled sadly and turned and touched the hilt of the sword stuck in the ground as if taking strength from it for what was obviously going to be a rather long explanation that brought up many bad memories for him.

"Because of something that was done to us, we both are unable to die. Despite this, we both wanted a family and that, because of our forced immortality, we would guide our decedents as well as we could. Over the thousands of years we've lived, we have witnessed the rise and fall of many civilizations and peoples, including the world as you know it now. By this time the world had changed so much, yet we were still the same. Over the years, our respective families had married into each other's family so much that they finally combined into a single family. It was this combined family bearing my surname that was officially founded in the magical world over five thousand years ago. For a time after that we continued to guide the family, but by the time this branch of Gringotts was built, we had grown tired of our role. When we told the family this, they had this vault made for us in the likeness of the world we once knew. This is where we have lived for the past few thousand years. And it is here that every member of the Strife family comes to learn the family's true history."

Harry stared at the blonde who was now sitting propped against the sword. Vincent was sitting quietly on the rock Harry, himself, was leaning against. These men had true immortality. After hearing Cloud's explanation and hearing the sadness and weariness in his voice, Harry couldn't help but wonder if immortality was more a curse then a blessing. To watch all those you love be born, grow old, then die while you always remained the same. Certainly this was the worst kind of curse.

"Well," Harry began after collecting his thoughts, "That was certainly an informative, if long winded, explanation."

His statement got an amused look and a snort from Cloud and Vincent respectfully.

"I take it you'll be giving me a fuller version of our history and why the family name was changed to Potter? And, out of curiosity, do you happen to know what's going on in the wizerding world right now?"

"Yes, I will be and, yes, we know of that foolish prophecy. Our family never put much faith in them. The only type we've ever put much stock in are of the self full filling kind. Moving on, though."

Harry stood there and listened to Clouds lecture on his family history, nodding every so often and asking questions. Cloud actually made history interesting. After that, Cloud moved on to the training he and Vincent would be giving him, explaining how they could control how time passed in the vault and that they'd have plenty of time to train and that, yes, he would still age as if time was going normally.

To be honest the majority of it went over Harry's head so he'd taken to studying Chaos whom Vincent had let out so he could be introduced as one of Harry's teachers. He was mostly interested in the head dress. He so wanted to touch it. Not to mention wondering how Chaos could still hold his head up. A slow, somewhat crazy, grin spread across his face. Harry decided to give into temptation and the growing boredom that had begun to eat away at him.

Harry poked Chaos's head dress before snickering semi madly, then promptly repeated the process.

"How can you hold your head up with this on you head?" he asked, grinning madly, once he was sure both men's attention was on him.

Chaos blinked and twitched slightly.

"You're easily amused aren't you?" he asked, deadpanned, though there was a slight touch of amusement lacing his voice.

Harry's grin became slightly more insane.

"What can I say? I think I lost the majority of my marbles going around the bend after flying over the cuckoo's nest a few times. Though I can't remember if that was before or after visiting a belfry. That and I've always agreed with the fact that sanity is over rated."

Chaos snorted, amusement showing plainly on his face now.

"Oh yes, we'll get along just fine," he said, a semi evil smirk spreading across his face echoing the one now displayed on Harry's face.

Cloud just sat propped against the sword, his face in his hand, wondering why the descendants that had to fight in a war always seemed to be less sane then the rest. This was going to be a long ten years of time warped training he just knew it.

**--End--**


End file.
